LIFESTYLE

Lisa Curry on moving from heartbreak to happiness

3 July, 2024 . 0

Triple Olympian Lisa Curry reveals her struggles with grief and how she is reclaiming her health through daily rituals and a new wellness regimen.

Swimming legend Lisa Curry inspires scores of women to get back on the wellness wagon – and she knows all too well how hard that can be.

The much-loved Olympic star says she “fell into a hole” after the tragic death of her daughter Jaimi Kenny in 2020, and it took a long time to climb out.

Lisa barely exercised and turned to emotional eating, and she says her weight and health have suffered.

But the wellness entrepreneur is on the road to recovery and embarking on a new chapter in her health journey, buoyed by the launch of her new book.

“I’m starting to feel like myself again for the first time in three-and-a-half years,” Lisa says.

“During my time of grief, I didn’t care about what I ate, I didn’t exercise and I was basically just sitting at home.

“So now that I’m climbing out of that hole, I know what I need to do.”

A mother’s heartbreak

Lisa’s first-born daughter Jaimi died at just 33 after a long health battle, and then Lisa lost her mother Pat 18 months later.

Her new book, Happy Healthy You, co-written with her business partner, naturopath Jeff Butterworth, was in part driven by a personal desire to get her own health and happiness back on track.

Lisa says people need to be kind to themselves and take baby steps when getting back into a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle.

“What I say to people now is that if they are in a state of stress, anxiety, grief, trauma, just do two things,” she says.

“Try and make good decisions with your food and try and do a little exercise.

“I wished I’d had someone say, ‘Come on, let’s just go for a walk, even though you don’t feel like it’.

“People are very gentle around you, because they say, ‘You’ve got to look after yourself’.

“But by not doing those two things for a couple of years, it’s really affected me now.”

The book, touted as a guide to help you “sleep better, balance your hormones, nourish your body and regain your health”, is an extension of the website the duo run of the same name.

Prioritising health

Lisa, 62, who has been hit by health knocks including atrial fibrillation (an irregular heart rhythm) and a hip replacement, says she’s had to alter her routine as she has got older.

She refers to the book and Jeff as her “health coaches” – similar to having a coach and logging her training progress in the lead-up to the Olympics.

A poll of women in her online Happy Healthy You community found sleep, anxiety and weight gain were their biggest health concerns.

The book focuses on sleep, diet, movement and mindfulness, with healthy recipes, breathwork exercises, yoga poses and menu plans.

Sleeping on it

Sleep has been particularly challenging for Lisa, and each night she does some gentle yoga before bed to let her mind and body wind down.

For people whose physical activity has stagnated, she recommends starting with at least one yoga class a week to get moving, and practising simple yoga poses at home.

“When we want to heal people from the inside out, we need to be gentle with ourselves,” she says.

“Your body is so amazing at regeneration that it’s never too late to start thinking about the life you want in the future.”

Young at heart

Lisa says she wants to be a “granny who can kick a ball with the grandsons”, rather than moaning about her aches and pains.

“I know 100 per cent that as soon as you get out the door and dive into the pool … or walk up
that first hill, it’s so worth it,” she says.

“My mantra is get up, show up and never give up.”

Lisa says people have to be ready in order to change their lifestyle and habits.

“But the key is not to wait too long – really live, don’t just exist,” she says.

How Lisa Curry keeps fit and healthy

Daily rituals

Mornings

The day begins with 10 minutes of gentle movement, starting with stretches in bed, such as ankle, neck and body twist rotations, before finishing with standing stretches, arm circles to loosen shoulder joints, and sumo squats.

Evenings

To unwind and let go of tension, Lisa does the legs-up-the-wall yoga pose for at least 5 minutes.

Weekly exercise regimen

Monday

The week starts off with a gym session, starting with 20 minutes on the treadmill, increasing the incline every 2 minutes; followed by 5 sets of 10-20 repetitions, doing 5 different exercises, then stretching for 10 minutes.

Tuesday

On Tuesdays, it’s a 32-minute Tabata workout with 8 different exercises – Lisa performs each exercise for 20 seconds, rests for 10 seconds, then repeats the circuit 8 times.

“On week one, I do two lower body, two upper body, two lower body and two core movements,” Lisa says.

“I change it up every week, and try to work all the muscle groups.”

Wednesday

Mid-week is for yoga – Lisa’s favourite yoga class is yin yoga.

“I may add a 30-minute beach walk or 20-minute walk for a coffee,” she says.

Thursday

On Thursdays, when she can, Lisa heads to her local 50m pool for:

20 x 50m laps with a 10-second rest between laps
4 sets of 100m, using a kickboard
2 sets of 200m, using hand paddles
4 freestyle laps of the pool, alternating between fast and easy swims every 25m
4 easy laps of relaxing strokes to finish, such as backstroke and breaststroke

Friday

Walk and talk: Lisa walks the local hills with friends.

Saturday

It’s time for another swim session, but Lisa mixes up her water workout.
She says a great addition is treading water with arms in the air for 10 x 1-minute sets, then 4 sets of 10 pull-outs (pulling yourself out of the pool and lowering back in).

Sunday

A rest day: Lisa enjoys gentle movement such as gardening and a beach stroll with the dog.

More on loss and ways to heal:

Written by Elissa Doherty.